LDA NEWS & UPDATES  August 2019

Educate Your Doctors!

Dr. Brian Fallon, Columbia University; Dr. Joanna Lyon, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy; Dr. Adrian Baranchuk, Queen’s University; and Dr. George Chaconas, University of Calgary discuss topics of research to be presented at upcoming LDA/Columbia CME Conference September 21 & 22, 2019 i n Philadelphia, PA at the Hilton Penn’s Landing on the banks of the Delaware.

Watch & Share Short Pre-Conference Video Watch Here

Reduced Rate Registration through September 19th! This conference features 23 faculty consisting of clinicians and researchers from across the US and Canada and is designed for health professionals & researchers, but it is also open for registration to the general public to attend. Click Here to Register Conference Agenda Educate Your Doctors, Publicize the Lyme Conference! Please print   CONFERENCE FLYER   Note: adjust printer for legal-sized paper and distribute to places in your community such as :   Doctor’s office Local hospital Urgent Care Centers School Nurse Support group meetings Library

TBDWG September 12th Meeting

Photo courtesy of LDO

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gave notice that the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) will hold a public meeting via webcast on September 12, 2019, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET ( times are tentative and subject to change )... Read more Sign up to attend meeting webinar here

Call for Federal Investigation

Senate Amendment #355 Conference Committee consisting of House and Senate members will meet to come up with a bill that we hope will contain Amendment 355 as passed by the House. If passed, will direct the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DoD) to “conduct a review of whether the DoD experimented with ticks and other insects regarding use as a biological weapon between the years of 1950 and 1975." Read More Read Amendment to Rules Committee Print 116-143, #355

What Good Would an Investigation Do?   Results of an investigation could possibly: Change how tick-borne diseases are viewed Change attitudes about patients Have an impact on treatments Have an impact on tick control Lead to increased federal funding Learn how you can help

New Uniform Repellent for Military

Ticks: A Threat to Our Troops As part of the Pentagon’s second annual “Bug Week,” an event organized to raise awareness of insects and the diseases they carry, the Defense Department announced its plans to develop a new and improved product that will eventually replace Permethrin... Read more

CDC Recommends New Tests for Lyme Disease

Are new tests actually better tests? The CDC formally recommends several new serologic assay testing methods recently cleared by the FDA.

The Lyme disease serologic assays, which utilize a sensitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for detecting pathogens, were cleared by the FDA on July 29th, 2019 and have since been determined to be acceptable alternatives for the serologic diagnosis of Lyme disease by the CDC. Serologic assays that utilize EIA rather than western immunoblot assay in a two-test format can be used in place of the western immunoblot assay as the second tier of testing. In 1994 the CDC and FDA met with several other government health organizations... Read more

LDA Endorses IDSA Guidelines Rebuttal

LDA Joins Ad Hoc Patient & Physician Coalition in the Endorsement of Rebuttal to the IDSA Proposed Lyme Guidelines

Over the past two months, Lorraine Johnson, CEO of LDO and Elizabeth (Betty) Maloney, MD, the International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), have analyzed the IDSA guidelines and prepared a 58-page rebuttal. Their comments have been endorsed by more than 64 patient advocacy groups from 5 countries, including the national Lyme Disease Association Inc. and the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, as of August 28, 2019. LDO is an Affiliate of Lyme Disease Association, Inc.

View Lyme Patient Organizations View Comments Submitted Read Latest LDO Blog

The Tick Act Update

The Tick Act,  Ticks: Identify, Control, and Knockout (TICK) Act, S1567, is an effort to improve research, prevention, diagnostics, and treatment. Introduced by Senator Susan Collins. Identical House version, HR3073, was introduced by Congressman Chris Smith. Read More

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